Dark Paradise

Are you going to kill me or what?

Tony found himself in front of the bathroom door and was already taking the doorknob when a sob began to echo along with the running water.

Why is he crying? Nobody does anything to him.

Tony wasn't going to admit it, but that was the moment he first hesitated. There was a hint of regret, even compassion, in him. He sighed and leaned his forehead against a piece of wood. He couldn't. 

He returned to the kitchen, which was separated from the living room only by a bar, where he returned the knife to where it belonged and then slammed his fist furiously on the table. There was a bang that was heard even by a crying boy sitting on the ground with his knees up near his chin.

Tony walked over to his good friend - a bottle of alcohol on an inconspicuous table. He took a clean glass, which he filled to the brim, and fell on the sofa. The noise of the water stopped and was replaced by silence. Tony drank the bitter liquid and just waited for the alarm to sound again, announcing another "attempt" to escape. To his great surprise, no alarm went off, and Peter soon entered the room with his head down, mumbling the underside of his T-shirt again.

"Sit down."

Peter obeyed and sat down in the armchair, where Stark sat the night before.

"So... Are you going to kill me or what?" Peter said. A piece of the phrase "... I have no plans to kill you today"  kept ringing in his head.

"Kill you?" Stark looked at the boy with a false expression of surprise. Peter barely looked at him. Instead of studying Tony's perfect face, he stared at the completely ordinary and uninteresting floor.

"Well ... it's up to you." The man broke the silence and crossed his legs.

"M-Me?" 

"It will depend on when you stop entertaining me." Tony sipped confidently from his glass and leaned his back against the backrest as Peter sat hunched over in a chair with muscles clenched all over his body.

"So, so we're actually going to play like in story Be-Beauty and the Beast?"

Tony had to laugh. "So I'm beast? I'm flattered."

Peter blushed and stared at the floor again.

"I'll leave you alone today." The man got up from the couch and left the room with a glass he hadn't given out of his hand. "And don't think of trying to run away again!"

He headed for his study, where he sat at his desk and turned on the laptop. He tapped something on the keyboard and a live broadcast from the living room appeared on the screen. Peter moved from the armchair to the sliding glass door leading to the garden, which he tried to open.

The boy is just unteachable.

The man smiled from ear to ear watching Peter struggling with the glass wall. As he gave up the losing battle, he looked around and began examining the library beside him, which covered almost the entire wall. He pulled out some books one by one and flipped through them.

Tony didn't take his eyes off the computer. However, his smile faded and he stared blankly in front of him. He thought. For a long time, he had witnessed a tendency to feel a certain desire for young boys. Each time, he managed to dispel his feelings for a while with sex with a boy, whom he looked out for on the street, then enjoyed with him and got rid of him right after the first night. He could not allow any of them to grow on his heart. It would just disturb him at work. But as he stood in front of the bathroom door, something broke inside him. It was as if a little angel appeared on his shoulder, leading him to good things.

No! he shook his head, still watching the little reader. He had to do something about it. He spun around in his wheelchair, looking around the room, hoping for an idea. An imaginary light bulb flashed overhead, and Tony applauded triumphantly with a smile.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The day passed slowly but surely. In the evening, the two men sat in front of the television, silently watching the evening news.

"That was the weather forecast and now to the main news: Peter Parker is still missing and-"

Peter turned his head to Tony, who was holding the remote in his hand. He switched the channel and the report about Peter was replaced by a film. The boy had no idea what it was, let alone what it was about. He didn't like to admit it, but he'd much rather watch the news about him than a stupid movie, because they might mention how May is doing. He wanted to let her know in some way that he was alive and okay. He would lie, but a merciful lie is often better than the truth itself.

Stark interrupted his thoughts of his aunt, because he suddenly moved one hand to the boy's thigh. As he ran his hand over Peter's leg and reached the young man's crotch, his face was slapped relatively hard.

"My God!" The boy hissed, covering his mouth with his palms as Stark ran two fingers over the sore spot. "I-I-I'm so sorry ... that ... I didn't want to!"

Tony was really surprised but amused by his gesture. However, he did not show it on himself and stood up with a stony expression.

"Stay here," he said, taking a few steps to the bar. He fished in the shelf and pulled out two clean glasses. Fortunately, Peter didn't dare look at him, he got back to a state where he froze completely and became a bundle of nerves, so Tony had a lot of time.

He pulled a small transparent zippered bag from his trouser pocket and laid down a small tablet on the line, crushed it and poured the powder into one of the glasses, then moved back to a small table in the corner of the living room, where he filled them with bitter alcohol, and Peter fixed his dark eyes on the man incomprehensibly as he handed him an improved drink.